System for manipulating concrete bodies



March 10, 1970 E.'HAE6SSLER SYSTEM FbR MANIPULATING CONCRETE BODIES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 6, 1968 Ernst Haeussler Jnremar.

March 10, 1970 E HAEUSS LER SYSTEM FOR MANIPU-LATING CONCRETE BODIES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 6, 1968 Ernsf Haeussler Jn ken/0r- Attorney March 10, L910 5. HAEUSSLER 3,499,675

SYSTEM FOR MANIPULAT'ING CONCRETE BODIES Filed June 6. 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Ernst Haeussler Jn remar.

B i Y A g Attorney United States Patent 3,499,676 SYSTEM FOR MANIPULATING CONCRETE BODIES Ernst Haeussler, Grashofstrasse 47, Essen-Bredeney, Germany Filed June 6, 1968, Ser. No. 735,048 Claims priority, application Germany, June 13, 1967,

Int. 01. nzsb 29/00 Cl. 29490 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A system for manipulating concrete and other massive bodies with the aid of a crane or other lifting device wherein an anchor is imbedded in the body and has a head project ng therebeyond in a spheroidal recess positioned such that the head lies below the outline of the body, the system including a ball-shaped socket member having a groove, extending along an arc of the periphery of the socket member through at least 90 and preferably about 180, of a width less than the width of the anchor head but greater than the diameter of the anchor shank. The socket corresponds to the configuration of the recess and is swingable about a common center of the ball and the recess to engage the head from below while an eye, loop or other attaching means is integral with the socket and receives a cable, wire rope, chain or hook for lifting the concrete body. A spherical core within the socket is spaced from the wall thereof by a distance equal approximately to the thickness of the head while a pin can be inserted across the lateral opening of the socket to prevent inadvertent withdrawal of the head.

My present invention relates to a system for manipulating transporting and handling massive bodies and more particularly, massive concrete bodies.

In modern concrete construction, it is a common practice to erect a structure from one or more relatively massive concrete bodies (e.g. slabs, shells, beams, columns or girders) which are precast or prefabricated on the ground of the erection site or at some remote location and transported to the erection site by truck, railroad, barge or other means. In all such cases, considerable care must be taken in handling the precast body, especially in lifting the latter from its forms or positioning the body upon the structure.

The conventional practice is to carry out such manipulation with the aid of cranes, hoists and the like, having wire rope, cables, chains or other flexible members provided with hooks, or operating without such hooks, which are anchored to formations preformed in the concrete body or constituted by anchors embedded therein. Thus, for example, bolts or the like may be embedded in the concrete body and provided with means for distributing the lifting force along the length of the bolt to the concrete surrounding same, the bolt having a threaded end protruding from the body to which a shackle or the like can be afiixed via a nut assembly. These systems have, however, the disadvantage that the threaded end of the bolt is often encrusted with concrete so that application of the nut requires time-consuming cleaning of the bolt; another disadvantage is that the threads improperly retain the nut with the possible danger that, under the considerable Weight of such bodies, the lifting operation may be accompanied by a breakage of the connection and the fall of the body from considerable heights. Not only may such falling bodies endanger the structure but they pose considerable danger to workers on the construction site. Attempts to embed hooks and the like in the con- 3,499,676 Patented Mar. 10, 1970 crete bodies have proved ineffective for similar reasons or because the hooks were incapable of adequately distributing the sheer stress generated upon lifting throughout the relatively massive body. Still other systems have made use of recesses in the body which were spanned by anchor rods beneath which a crane hook could engage. Such systems have the disadvantage that the entire stress is applied to the surface zone of the body with possible rupture of the body or release of the anchor.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide a system for the manipulation of massive bodies, especially concrete bodies, wherein the aforementioned disadvantages can be avoided and the body can be lifted, transported or held with greater security than heretofore.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a sys tem for the lifting of concrete bodies which facilitates attachment of the system to the body and detachment of the system upon proper disposition of the body, which is of relatively low cost, which offers greater security than earlier systems, and which is suitable for use in various positions and applications without inordinately stressing the assembly.

I have found that it is possible to accomplish these objects with a unique system for the lifting of concrete bodies making use of an elongated anchor embedded in the concrete body and having a projecting portion whose shank terminates in a relatively enlarged head constituting an annular flange on the shank such that the latter forms a neck receivable in the spherical segmental slot along the periphery of a generally spheroidal socket having a lateral opening through which the head can be inserted into the socket in a recumbent position of the socket.

Thus, the present invention provides that the connecting head be constituted as an all-around enlargement upon the shank of the anchor bolt while the lifting member is substantially spherical, e.g. ball-shaped or hemi sphere-shaped and is provided with attachment means (eg, a eye, hook, or loop) integral with the socket for receiving the lifting element, e.g. a crane cable or chain. Preferably, the groove extends arcuately through at least and, preferably, about from the head-receiving opening of the socket which is provided on only one side thereof. A closure member, e.g. a pin, bolt or. tension sleeve, can be provided in this opening to lock the socket onto the head.

According to a more specific feature of this invention, the head and the neck of the anchor bolt is recessed below the outline of the body which is provided with a generally spherical recess whose center of curvature corresponds to that of the socket when the latter engages the head of the anchor. The latter preferably lies along the axis of this recess and extends above the recessed wall by a distance equal substantially to the thickness of the socket wall flanking the groove. At its extremity remote from the head and, if desired, at one or more 10- cations along its length, the anchor bolt is provided with a unitarily formed (stamped, forged or otherwise shaped in a heading press) annular disk-shaped foot whose diameter ranges between two and three times the diameter of the shank of the anchor bolt. Best results are achieved when the anchor bolt is composed of steel, preferably a nonrusting steel such as 18-8 stainless.

An advantage of the present system is that inadvertent release of the socket from the head is impossible when the system is under load since, in this condition, the socket is turned out of its recombent position in which the head can be inserted into and removed from the socket. When the groove extends to about 180, the socket member can pivot to lodge the neck of the anchor against the closed end of the groove with the socket member thus being inclined to the anchor but sufficiently freestanding to allow the hook or other member to be inserted through the eye or loop. Still another feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a filler body having a spherical or cylindrical portion with a common center with the groove and spaced from the inner surface thereof by a distance equal or slightly greater than the thickness of the anchor head. The filler body may have divergent flanks at least one of which is designed to bear against the head from above when the lifting member is swung into the canted position mentioned earlier to allow insertion of a hook or cable in the eye. The entire connecting body can be cast or forged from steel with relatively low cost.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent fromt he following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a concrete body provided with the system of the present invention and showing the coupling member in an elevational view with part of the socket broken away;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view through the device showing the anchor head in dot-dash lines;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line IIIIII of FIG. 2 and provided with the section line II-II illustrating the out along which FIG. 2 is viewed; and

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing the manufacture of the connecting body in accordance with the present invention.

In FIGS. 1-3, I have shown a concrete slab, beam or girder 1 in which an anchor bolt 2 is embedded during-the casting of the concrete body. The anchor bolt 2 has a cylindrical shank 7 terminating, at its lower extremitiy, in a forged disk-shaped foot 11 whose diameter -D is two to three times greater thand the diameted d of the shank 7. Similarly forged portions may be produced along the shank using conventional head presses or the like.

At its upper end, the anchor 2 projects beyond the upwardly concave partly spherical wall 10 of a recess 10 whose center C lies along the axis A of the anchor 2. The projecting portion 7a of the shank 7 forms a neck which terminates in a head 3 integral with the shank 7 and constituting a coupling member engageable by the coupling body 4. The body 4, which can be suspended from a crane by the load-supporting means represented by the wire rope 5, is constructed as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B with the configuration illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

More specifically, the member 4 is formed with a generally spherical socket 12 cast or forged integrally with a generally planar eye or loop 6 whose arms 6a and 6b diverge outwardly toward a bight 6c so as to form an opening 6d through which the wire rope can be inserted. In place of the loop or eye 6, the device may be formed with a hook or other means from which the body can be suspended from a crane. The ball-shaped socket has a wall 8a centered at point C when the ball is positioned in the recess and formed with the lateral opening 9 through which the head 3 can be inserted into the interior chamber 8, a channel likewise centered at point C of the socket 12, when the device is in its recumbent position as illustrated in dot-dash lines in FIG. 1.

The wall 8a (FIGS. 2 and 3) is provided with a groove 811 whose width W is slightly greater than the diameter d of the neck 7a of the anchor 2 and which opens into the wider slot or channel 8. The width H of this channel (FIG. 3) is slightly greater than the diameter D of the head 3 of the anchor.

The bottom wall of channel 8 may be beveled in the direction of the slot 8!) complementarily to the bevel 3 between the head 3 and the shank 7 of the anchor. The arc-shaped channel 8 leaves a filler body of generally cylindrical configuration at 14, the filler body having a flank 14a adapted to bear against the upper surface 3" of thehead 3 when member 4 is swung to the left (FIG. 2), thereby placing the neck 7a of the anchor against the closed end 8b of the groove. This allows the body 4 to remain in a partly canted position (analogous to the position shown in FIG. 4B) when the channel 8 extends through about The thickness t of the wall 8a preferably corresponds to or is slightly less than the distance 1 between the head 3 and the wall 10 of recess 10.

A closure member 13 (e.g. a pin or the like) can be inserted into the socket 12 across the opening 9 to prevent the head 3 from withdrawing when the load upon the system relaxes. Instead of a pin 13, a tension sleeve or the like may be driven into the opening 9.

In FIGS. 4A and 4B, I illustrate the manufacture of the system. The anchor bolt 4 can be made from round steel bodies (e.g. rods of stainless steel) and provided with the foot 11 and the head 3 in a conventional heading press. The coupling body 4 is preferably cast or provided with an opening 6d by stamping, and forged throughout, including the ball portion 12. The channel 8 can be produced by a T-shaped milling tool M which first advanced radially to form the opening 9 and then is merely rotated as the member 6, 12 is swung about the center C so that the two steps of the tool mill the channel 8 and the groove 8b simultaneously. The same results are obtained when the body 4, 12 is held stationary and the milling tool M is swung. The heads 11 and 3 may also be attached to the shank 7 by other means.

A generally conical body 16 can be slipped over or clamped onto the planar eye 6 to support the body 4, 12, in a canted position enabling insertion of the wire rope 5 without stress upon the head 3. The body 16 prevents the coupling member 4 from being placed in his recumbent position (dot-dash lines in FIG. 1) and thus further guarantees the head alone slips out of the coupling member.

The improvement described and illustrated is believed to admit of many modifications within the ability of persons skilled in the art, all such modifications being considered within the spirit and scope of the invention except as limited by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A system for manipulating a massive body, comprising an anchor embedded in said body and provided with a head projecting from said body beyond the surface thereof, and a. coupling member having a generally spheroidal socket formed with an arcuate channel adapted to receive said head, an arcuate groove opening into said channel and extending therealong and of a width less than that of said head, and a lateral opening communicating with said channel for admitting said head thereto in a substantially recumbent position of said socket whereby said head is supported by said socket in off-recumbent positions thereof.

2. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said coupling member further comprises connecting means afiixed to said socket for suspending same from a load-lifting mechanism.

3. The system defined in claim 2 wherein said connecting means is an eye integrally formed on said socket.

4. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said channel extends through an arc of about 180.

5. The system defined in claim 1, further comprising closure means spanning said opening for blocking the withdrawal of said head therethrough.

6. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said body is composed of concrete and said anchor is an elongated anchor member embedded in the concrete.

7. The system defined in claim 6 wherein said body is provided with a generally spheroidal recess, said head being disposed centrally in said recess below the outline of said body.

8. The system defined in claim 7 wherein said recess has a filler of curvature coinciding substantially with that 5 of said socket upon engagement of said head by said socket.

9. The system defined in claim 8 wherein said anchor comprises an elongated shank formed at its other end with a disk embedded in the concrete.

10. The system defined in claim 9 wherein said disk has a diameter equal substantially to 2 to 3. times the diameter of said shank, said groove has a width slightly greater than the diameter of said shank, said channel has 6 and said head projects beyond the wall of said recess by a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the socket in the region of the groove.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,161,930 12/1964 Crosson 294-82 3,429,607 2/1969 White 294-89 a width slightly greater than the diameter of said head 10 ANDRES H, NIELSEN, Primary E amine 

